Two local Asian communities will celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Snake this weekend with free community festivals.

From Friday through Sunday, the Vietnamese American Youth Alliance will present its eighth annual San Diego Tet Festival in Mira Mesa. And on Saturday and Sunday, the San Diego Chinese Center presents its 31st annual San Diego Chinese New Year Food and Cultural Fair downtown. Usually, the Tet and Chinese festivals are held weeks apart, but this year they’re scheduled on the same weekend.

First up is Tet, which has moved this year to a new location, because its longtime home at Park Boulevard and Presidents Way in Balboa Park is under construction (in preparation for the park’s Centennial Celebration in 2015). Organizers said the festival attracts about 20,000 visitors each year.

This year’s Miss Vietnam San Diego pageant has been postponed due to a lack of participation, but a full slate of entertainment is on tap for the three-day event. The festival centerpiece is a cultural village with performances of Vietnamese music, dance, martial arts, fashion shows, contests in flower-arranging, art, trivia, watermelon eating, children’s entertainment and hands-on craft stations. There will also be a children’s talent showcase, carnival rides, Vietnamese food booths, firecrackers, “lucky lion” dancing and a vendor village.

The two-day, rain-or-shine San Diego Chinese New Year Festival will take place outside the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum at 404 Third Ave., an area of downtown designated as the Asian Pacific Thematic Historic District.

An estimated 25,000 people attend the annual fair, which this year will feature lion and dragon dancers, Chinese folk dance and music, martial arts demonstrations and performances by Asian Story Theatre. A craft area for families will include a booth where children can make their own paper lanterns to carry in a lantern parade each day at 1:10 p.m. There will be food and vendor booths, and the winner of the second annual college essay contest will be announced.